What Guides You?

If you're a wannabe world traveller, you obviously follow your heart to the destinations it desires.  But hopefully you have a little more to go on once you get there... like a map or guidebook per se?  The options are endless when it comes to getting travel advice on where to go, what to do, and how to do it.  My three main sources are the internet, guidebooks, and recommendations from friends.  In this blog though, I will focus on the second -- Guidebooks.

Though there are options a-plenty, I would estimate there are about 10-15 really reliable travel guide series out there covering most marjor cities and countries of the world.  They range from in-depth trade-paperback volumes to little pocket guides thinner than your wallet.  And like reading any other type of books, everyone will have a different preference.  When you first flip through a guidebook, there should be photos, passages, descriptions etc. that immediately grab you, if you don't know anything about your destination and you're already disinterested in the book, it might be a sign to try another.  Different series also have different formats and target different interests, sometimes it's useful to have more than one guidebook for each destination.  You may choose a more traditional sight-seeing series of books but then supplement with another series that highlights modern architecture for instance (or get your supplementary info online, which is what I do more and more).

I have a few favourite series that I always turn to first, and they rarely fail me.  For the most info crammed into the smallest volume, get yourself a Mini Rough Guide.  Rough Guides provide extensive travel information but not exclusively so, they also provide many different types of reference guides (ie. Cult Films, Football, and my favourite out-of-print volumes on House and Jungle Music!)  Mini Rough Guides will fit easily into your average purse or jacket pocket and are packed with info for every destination, typically broken down by geographic area (cities/neighborhoods/etc).  The first couple chapters will include the essentials - how to get there, transportation, languages, important things to know, then subsequent chapters cover the tourist highlights.  Each chapter will begin with an intro including the lay of the land, then provide details of the major attractions moving into the lesser known spots.  I find Rough Guides most useful when I'm in a country/city for an extended period (ie. one week or more) and really want to get into the thick of things.  When I'm blowing through a city in 2-3 days, I'm only looking for the best of the best and this is when I find too much of the info goes to waste.  The only other complaint I have about the Rough Guide series is that it lacks colour photos, and photos in general compared to other series.  Trust me, when you're in a foreign land eyeing a non-English sign hesitantly, wondering if this is the building you're looking for or not... a photo really comes in handy!

About 4 years ago I was in a bookstore perusing guidebooks for New York City, it was my second visit and I was taking someone on their first visit so I wanted to get things right.  The sales associate I chatted with recommended the Frommer's Day by Day series to me.  The layout is unique in that it provides suggested all-day itineraries.  In other words, they've done a lot of the thinking and planning for you when it comes to grouping things together geographically, picking the best stuff, and maximizing you time.  For example, they provide an itinerary for best of NYC in one day, three days, etc.  So if you have one day in NYC, this is what you need to see, if you have more time, then you can add these things, and so on...  They also have itineraries grouped by interests, ie. Best art museums in a day.  I think this is really as close to having a tour guide (without actually having a tour guide) as you can get.  I did buy this guidebook, but admittedly I don't think I really stuck to any of the itinerarys, logical as they were.  I would definitely consider purchasing this type of guide for another city sometime, I figure if there is a destination in the recommended itinerary that I'm not interested in, I can always pick an alternative spot or use that as shopping time!

In recent years, I've started taking trips that involve more cities, but fewer days at each.  At first I was still using the Mini Rough Guide, but that's a lot to read just for a 2-day stop.  Then I met up with my friend Stephen in London for a pint one night, and he brought me his copy of Top 10 Barcelona from the Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide series.  Turns out it was exactly what I needed.  It's concise, has photos, lists just the facts, a pull-out map, all in one slim volume.  Perfect for any trip under 5 days (note: there's usually enough in the books for a solid 4 days of sightseeing, but it was borderline for my recent trip to Russia.  On the last day in each city I was a little low on high/medium priority destinations, perhaps I should've taken the time to read a Rough Guide for more alternatives).  Maybe it has to do with me being a sucker for lists, but the format  is great for my needs.  Each book begins with the Top 10 things to see/do, then gives a 2 page run-down of each of those destinations (I find I'm typically interested in about 8 of the 10 highlighted).  After that every category is broken down in list of 10's, ie. Top 10 Churches to See, Top 10 Places to Shop, 10 Things to Avoid, and so it continues with sights, suggestions, info, and tips.  In later lists you will also find breakdowns by neighborhood and suggested itineraries within these areas.  It's worth noting how the way information is presented can make a huge difference, these lists are right up my alley, but I find the regular DK Eyewitness guides largely dull and unreadable. 

Though I stick to the website, a lot of people seem to find the Lonely Planet series of guide books pretty helpful.  I've been given one or two but have yet to read them.  I also own a Style City guide for London, as the series title alludes, the imagery is chic, and some of the places they describe are cool.  Overall though, I find the book impractical as it's missing all the essentials, this is a prime example of a supplementary guide book.  Of course I would also consider Douglas Coupland's City of Glass a good supplementary guide book for Vancouver :)  The other series I've experimented with but never got hooked on was the City Walks decks, each is like a deck of oversized flash cards with a map and description of the things you will see along the way.  A great idea, but the lack of landmark photos and relatively short distance of each walk (before having to rummage for the next card in the deck in order to continue on) made it all a little cumbersome and confusing.

New guides, travel websites, and even travel apps are popping up daily and making it much easier to get info on the fly.  But sometimes when the wifi's spotty and your roaming bill is almost as much as your plane ticket, there's nothing like a good old-fashioned, realiable, offline, printed book.  So make sure to bring a good one with you!

Music Soothes the Savage Beast... On the Road

If only they'd thought to give King Kong a giant pair of headphones playing a soundtrack of calming jungle noises, maybe he wouldn't have lost his temper, escaped captivity, and trampled New York City.  How many of you would never survive your commute to work without iTunes and feel this is doubly true for traveling?

One of my travel essentials is music.  As a child I'd get yelled at for having a Walkman, a Discman, and a backpack heavier than me because it was stuffed full of cassettes and CDs.  There was a whole lot of thought and time put into selecting which albums to bring, and then to make mix tapes for the songs you couldn't do without from the CDs you were leaving behind.  With the advent of MP3 players, my back pain subsided -- er, I mean, it became easier to take your music collection with you.  I currently have a 16Gig iPhone and have no want for more day to day music storage.

I think many will agree one of the greatest things about music in the digital age is the ability to create playlists.  However, great as I think playlists are, I will confess that I rarely utilize them nowadyas.  What with capabilities to play songs by artist, album, genre, the shuffle features etc.  I find little need in coming up with my own "mixes" day to day.

A notable exception is when I travel -- where I like to break down my music into "sleeping" music and "waking" music.  I have issues with white noise/dull roars like plane engines, so on a long haul flight, if we're in the air for 9 hours, I will have earphones in for 9 hours (be it music, movie audio, or whatever).  So it gets pretty important to have the right musical atmosphere when you're trying to fall asleep in a cramped economy seat.  There's nothing more annoying (though it is mildly comical) than finally falling asleep only to startle yourself silly when your iTunes shuffles from Radiohead to The Offspring.  On the flipside, when you're trying to rouse yourself from a lot of self-medication, a steady stream of Coldplay is not going to help you wake up, you're gonna need some techno.

Perhaps that's a very simplified use of the playlists features, but it works for me.  Music and comfort have always been tied together in my world, and this is how I adapt it to travel.

NYC April 2012 - Trip Notes

It's been a while on the blog front, but sadly not because I've been on the road all this time.  I did make it down to NYC for what seems like my annual Easter pilgrimage (to appease the shopping gods of course, I can't deal with the crowds to attend the Easter Day Parade)

As I mentioned in previous posts, I decided to try flying via Buffalo this year and even spent half a day in Cheektowaga hunting for bargains at the Walden Galleria mall.

The trip began early Wednesday morning, the Greyhound bus from Toronto to Buffalo Airport was a reasonable $14 each way.  Delays at the border got us there a bit late, but since I wasn't actually flying anywhere until the next day I wasn't too concerned that I had to each lunch an hour later.  First lesson learned was that Buffalo isn't a pedestrian-friendly place. Though Google Maps showed that my hotel was only a 20 min walk away, I had to choose my path wisely to ensure I had a sidewalk to walk on and pedestrian traffic signals only changed when you physically pressed the button to cross.  At first I attributed this to the airport proximity, our own Pearson International is not situated in a neighborhood that favours crosswalks over highways either.  I soon learned that it wasn't a localized issue.  Also Cabs aren't readily available to flag down in the streets at all.  While at the Galleria mall, I asked which way (meaning which exit doors) to the Olive Garden, the guy told me "it's just across the street" followed by "where are you parked?" implying that I should drive from one parking lot to another.  This horrified me on both a physical and environmental level.  How can it not occur to them to walk across a street?  Perhaps if they didn't build roads that people feel like they are risking their lives just to get across safely.  Despite my best efforts, I'm never going back to Buffalo without a car, it is simply too hard to get around.

That is not to say I had a bad time in Buffalo, on the contrary, I really enjoy shopping at the Galleria Mall. Macy's had coloured denim jeggings on sale and I chatted a long while with the guy at Teavana, who not only sold tea but has also lived in Ontario/Quebec and brought up the topic of TIFF and the Lightbox building (if he hadn't just reached legal drinking age I would say I'd found my soulmate).

The hotel we stayed in was the Best Western Inn at Buffalo Airport, it's a very basic 3-star with comfy beds, spacious room, CRT TV, good showerhead and complimentary continental breakfast.  For $80/night I considered it a bargain, next time I come back (with a car!) I'd stay there again.

Buffalo Airport is a pretty small operation, but still enough traffic on an early Thursday morning that we had to queue up (sorry, we're in US...line up...) to get scanned and x-rayed.  Regretfully the coach stop does not have a shelter or enclosed waiting area, not a problem arriving at the airport but it was pretty brutal waiting in the cold for the bus home at the end of the trip.

The flight was short and blissfully free of children.  Though I originally booked Continental Airline flights, their recent merger with United meant a few changes and in the end it became a UA flight.  Your carry on baggage size allowance is the same as with all other flights, but beware that the overhead compartments will not actually fit a standard carry-on sized wheelie.  They will tag your luggage at the gate and stow your wheelie during the flight, so be ready to pull out the items essential to your flight.  Luckily I've been thru this song and dance before and was ready to pluck my tablet and magazine out at a moment's notice.

I usually take Coach USA from Newark Liberty Airport into Manhattan, but this time I thought I would try taking the train.  On other travel sites & blogs it's described as a train that goes from the airport to Penn Station New York in approximately the same amount of time as the bus (less if the bus gets stuck in traffic), for a few dollars less.  All of which was true, but what they neglected to mention was that it's actually New Jersey Transit - aka a local train.  I was a little surprised to set foot on the train to find a bunch of Mets fans heading into NYC is all.  Going from Penn Station back to the airport was a little more problematic with a broken train that couldn't leave the station.  We had to get up en masse to switch trains, it was a nightmare where I almost left my ticket behind if not for a very respectable young thug (perhaps I'm getting older but it was some pretty cliched hip hop gear he was wearing) who called me "m'am" and handed me the ticket I'd left behind.  It was unfortunate, but it could happen to any train service.  Luckily I'd given myself some extra time so I was not late for my flight.

My accommodations in NYC were booked through AirBnB.com, my second time using the site.  I don't think I could've picked a better location if I tried, I am utterly in love with life in the East Village and my host, Jordan, was on E 12th St. and 3rd Ave.  That's right on the northern edge of the East Village and 3 blocks from Union Square (which I can never stay away from either).  Jordan's pretty nice and responds quickly via text, he met us at the apartment but unfortunately his last guests were late checking out.  So he took our bags and we were *forced* to go to Whole Foods Union Square, Forever 21, Strawberry, Forbidden Planet, Best Buy, and the DVD Funhouse for a couple of hours (oh, the horror! ;)) For the record I only bought 8 movies (6 Blu-ray, 2 DVDs) this year, which is actually one less than last year.  When we finally did get into the apartment, what we got was a decent-sized ground floor studio.  It had all the essentials, nice living/bedroom decor, good mattress, basic kitchen, but older bathroom (I wasn't in love with the tub but I've definitely had to deal with much worse).  It's a little thing, but Jordan had the foresight to plug a powerbar into one of the outlets, which made it much easier to plug in my devices without having to crawl under a table/unplug other things.  More renters/guesthouses around the world should do this.

Next was the quest for theatre tickets.  I had my eye on 2 shows, including Death of a Salesman starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman and directed by Mike Nichols, but there had been no discounts online (prob thanks to the great reviews), plus a $15 online booking fee.  So I decided just to head to midtown and go up to the box offices (I did walk by Times Square to see how long the line for discount tickets were, one glimpse and I said forget it!)  Death of a Salesman was playing at the Ethel Barrymore where they informed me the only available show was the Saturday matinee, with either single seats in the Orchestra or partial views, with prices starting at $140.  I decided that wasn't worth it and moved onto the Imperial for Nice Work If You Can Get It, which was in previews.  They had much better options there so I bought a pair of rear mezzanines, going straight to the box office also meant no additional service fees.  Turned out the show wasn't anywhere near sold out, our entire row shuffled up in the dark/during intermission and I wound up in the front mezzanine with an excellent view.  Matthew Broderick, Kelli O'Hara and Judy Kaye were terrific, plus Estelle Parsons makes an appearance.  The show is fun and the laughs are genuine, even if the story is a little contrived (hey, it's a musical).  I wanted all the chorus girls' dresses (the story takes places in the 20's).

Can't be in NYC without eating some really good food, sometimes this doesn't align with my wallet's plans, but luckily Gordon Ramsey isn't the only person/place to turn to for delicious food in the city.  We celebrated my friend Carrie's birthday with tapas and sangria at Boqueria in Soho, I recommend the Espinacas a la Catalana, Croquetas Cremosas, and the churros with chocolate dipping sauce.

Another afternoon I cut through Little Italy, Chinatown and veered off until I found myself in the Two Bridges neighborhood.  Don't think I'll be photographing that area extensively but I did find a hand-pulled noodle shop just off East Broadway that served a delicious bowl of noodles and steamed dumplings for dirt cheap.

My favourite discovery had to be Jing Fong Restaurant in Chinatown, which is on many food critic/blog lists for best dim sum in NYC.  They serve it up the old-fashioned way with pushcarts and featured desserts and decor that I haven't seen since the 80's in Hong Kong (think red decor and neon lighting). It brought back fond memories of living in Hong Kong in 1986, when my grandparents took my cousin and I to dim sum almost every day.  A large selection of dim sum and delightfully kitschy atmosphere all for a very low price.  I am never going to NYC without stopping at Jing Fong again!

One of my New Years' resolutions for 2012 was to venture into one of the boroughs for a change and I did just that on this trip by subwaying to Queens to visit the Museum of the Moving Image.  On this trip I learned (re-learned perhaps) the hard way that while the MTA has extensive routes, should you miss a stop or go the wrong way even one stop, it can take you a lot of time and effort to turn yourself around.  I hopped on a downtown train by mistake, got off one stop later but it so happened the stop did not have access to the other (uptown) platform unless I went out onto the street and paid my fare again.  So I went one stop further where I was able to get to the uptown platform, however they had switched the tracks for the local/express trains and I didn't notice the service sign right away, therefore let a couple trains go by without realizing there would be no express.  Finally got on a local train...making every stop to Astoria, so you can imagine what that was like.  Luckily MOVI was worth the effort, I spent a few hours geeking out amidst endless rows of antique films cameras and film-making equipment (some of which I was actually taught to use in school - a sure sign that my education is dangerously outdated!)

As usual, I packed as much into every day as I could while in NYC, here is a quick run-down of some of the places I hit, a blend of favourites and new finds:

• Macy's - go to guest services to get your discount card first thing, then be prepared to lose hours of your life
• Desigual - is Desigual.  I prefer the midtown store but I will go into any one that I walk past.
• Uniqlo - my first time at the midtown store, they were featuring a line of Andy Warhol t-shirts and $20 capris that are perfect for the office.
• SuperDry Store - another Japanese innovation, found a great biker jacket on sale but my credit card wouldn't cooperate.
• Canal St. - isn't what it used to be, I've lost the desire to seek out back alley sweatshops and the stores right on Canal have lousy knock-offs.
• Custo - did not have any sales this year and the sales people seemed less friendly, guess they're established and can be snooty too, like they are in Barcelona.
• Yellow Rat Bastard - is still the best place in the world to buy t-shirts.
• Top Shop - you can't always be in London, this is a fine consolation.
• Eataly - is a hard place to find a seat!  For a market eatery it's a little pricey but the quality is good.
• Random Accessories - a tiny little space packed with some pretty awesome knick-knacks.
• DVD Funhouse - has moved across the street from it's former location but still packed with marked down blockbusters and B movies.
• Best Buy Union Square - it's a Best Buy...but with US-priced blu-rays!
• Chelsea Market - remains one of my favourites, The Filling Station is the cheapest place to get truffle salt.

I didn't even get through half the stores I'd marked down to visit in the East Village, but on the flipside stopped in at some independent coffee shops, Chinese fast food joints, and Asian movie/music stores that I'd recommend but failed to record their names.  All I know is that I'll never tire of New York, I'm already trying to figure out when I'll have an opportunity to go back.

Functionably Fashionable in Foreign Lands

I've previously outlined my personal packing tips, some are reiterated here in Travelista's Tips for Packing Light:

http://travelista.com/packing/how-to-pack-light/
http://travelista.com/packing/12-travelista-packing-tips/

I like her suggestion of trying on outfits before you leave, as you may not have access to a full length mirror on the road.  Wearing bulky items on travel days is akin to my theory that "you can weight 130Ibs or 220Ibs and still get on the plane, but your suitcase cannot"  So layer it up, airlines don't separate whether your body weight comes from fat or fabric ;)

Travelista and I don't seem to favour the same colour palette, however, depending on your destination, her subtle neutrals might be a wise idea so as to call less attention to yourself.  I fully intend to rock colour denim and clashing solids in NYC, but will tone it down in some other destinations where I already look like a tourist even without the garish wardrobe. 

She has also written an informative blog about doing laundry during your travels:

http://travelista.com/packing/how-to-do-laundry-when-traveling/

Let's face it, I avoid laundry like the plague when I'm at home, that goes double when I'm on vaca.  However there are times when it is the wise thing to do to keep your suitcase light and odour-free.

(Sidenote:  to keep things largely odour-free I always make a point to bag my dirty clothes in separate plastic bags and travel-sized spray bottle filled with Febreeze with me.  Dryer sheets are said to work well too)

I have done the foreign laundromat thing, this is where I got my idea to open up a laundromat/internet cafe.  In 2004 I wasted a bit of time staring at a row or washers and dryers in Madrid, all the while thinking, I sure wish they had a computer or two in here.  Of course in this day and age everyone has wifi devices, so perhaps a laundromat with a small fee for wifi will suffice.  Anyway, I digress...  When a full load of laundry is what you need to do, then do it.  But if your stops are brief and trip not very long, it's a bit of a waste of time.

Laundry service is a good idea if you can afford it.  In some countries it's very cheap to send you laundry out (Hong Kong comes to mind) and they do a great job.  I wouldn't hand over anything that I'd be devastated to lose though (actually I wouldn't bring anything I'd be devastated to lose in the first place).

Hotel sink/tub laundry is the default and something I try to avoid, but I'm starting to change my attitude about this.  I did a little laundry when I rented a private flat on a previous trip, it was one of the reasons I mixed it up booking hotels in some cities and private apartments in others. I've never used detergent sheets before but am interested in getting some.  I bring a quick dry towel for my hair, but can easily tuck in another (or a ShamWow haha) in my suitcase.  As for a clothesline, for a few pairs of socks and undies, I'm sure you'd be able to drape them on a hanger.  If you're staying somewhere that might not have hangers, it's pretty easy to toss about couple wire ones (save the ones you get back from your drycleaners at home) in the bottom of your suitcase (then throw them out when you no longer need them).  Tide pens are pretty crucial to have in everyday life (at least they are if you're klutzy like me), on the road should be no different.

If you want to further lighten your load/pack more efficiently, many travellers recommend rolling your clothes instead of folding them to take up less space.  I plan to start doing this.  My favourite way to pack less is to wear sandals whenever possible, I hate closed-toe shoes and this way I don't have to pack as many socks :)  You might also consider an old tee/pj's that you won't hesitate to toss out if your travel purchases have your suitcase bulging at the end of the trip.

Hopefully when combined, these tips will keep you looking fabulous.  It's one thing to break your wallet, but you don't want to break your back.

Book Here, Not There...

March Break 2012 is in full swing and activity at my office is significantly quieter with many a parent on vacation.  The Friday before March Break is typically one of the busiest travel days of the year, while many crammed into waiting areas, braved line-ups, and wrangled children in that mess, I booked some plane tickets from the peace and quiet of my computer.


That's right, my first (and hopefully not last) international trip this year will be to Moscow and St Petersburg!  I've heard some mixed reviews about women traveling to Russia, but ultimately the beautiful architecture, palaces and promises of all-night arts festivals won me over.  As an advocate of public transit and art lover, the idea of subway stations that look like museums has me excitedly planning a day of exclusively exploring underground.

I've been checking plane ticket prices to Moscow (which is a more common route for us in North America) for months now, investigating possible sales (the conclusion is that there are very few sales on flights to Russia), flight routes (there are many, but few are direct) and times. Though I've been told time and again to shop around, even amongst online booking sites, I typically favour expedia.ca.  They usually have the lowest fares and are completely reliable for flight and hotel bookings 100% of the time.  I'd been eyeing a flight on their site for a few weeks, the price held steady at just under $1300 (most flights are between $1400-$1500), but much to my disappointment it started to go up 2 days before I was ready to book.  You may have read on other sites that airfare sales typically begin on Tuesday afternoons, and by Wednesday, competitors of the airline may also drop their prices to match.  This is your best window as a lot of sales end on Thursday.  My "special fare" (as it was called on Expedia) had held steady for a few weeks so I was hoping it'd go on for another week, but by Thursday (while it was still listed as "special fare") the price was over $1300 and on Friday it was closer to $1400 with ridiculously early departure times.  Early departures are usually cheapest; it's understandable that to save a buck you need to make some sacrifices, but sometimes it's near impossible to get to an airport for 4am in a foreign country.  Not to mention a bit unsafe.

While mulling over what to do next, I decided to click on one of the advertised links, which took me one of those sites that search a bunch of travel booking engines simultaneously.  I decided to give it a shot and see what options came up, one of the tabs was for CheapOAir, which I've used before to fly to Italy.  At the time they were a U.S.-based site, but have now expanded to include a .ca site as well.  The CheapOAir.com site pulled up a flight for $1133!  To double check I opened a new window and went directly to the CheapOAir site to try the search again.  Unbeknownst to me, it defaulted me to the Canadian CheapOAir.ca site, where the prices were on average $100 higher.  Perplexed, I eyed the page from different angles until I noticed it wasn't the US site.

The only difference between booking on the US site vs the Canadian site is that you're charged in US dollars.  With the dollar pretty much at par last week, it was quite the savings.  Guess what the experts have been saying are true, from now on I will search more extensively instead of just booking anything that "looks reasonable" from my default travel site.

(Caveats:  My flight was $1133 US, likely a bit over $1200 from CheapOAir.ca and not available through expedia.ca.  It is Toronto via NYC to Moscow.  On the way back I actually have to change airports.  Flight from Moscow lands in JFK but my flight home to Toronto will leave from LaGuardia after a 4.5 hr layover.  I'm pretty familiar with NYC and feel confident I can make my way to over in time to catch my flight home.  Also it's the last leg going home so there's less on the line for me to mess up, absolute worse case scenario I miss my flight and they won't rebook me, alternate flights home are relatively cheap or I can even resort to a bus if I have to.)

Surviving the Long Haul...

...Long Haul Flight that is.

After reading this article from The Traveler Zone website last week, I was inspired to write my own guide on how to survive a long haul international flight.  I've been flying to and from Hong Kong since I was 15 months old and only in recent years have they managed to get that flight time down to 14 hours, so I feel I qualify as an expert on the subject. 

Everyone seems to have different methods and ideas on how to make long flights more humane... have a drink to help you sleep, don't have a drink lest it make your jet lag worse;  sit in the emergency row for more leg room, don't sit in the emergency rows because they're next to the washroom... We all know upgrades are an obvious answer but speaking as your average thrifty traveller, I already paid enough for this plane ticket, I am not paying any more!  So let's just work with the cards we've been dealt...

Flight time can certainly be taxing on our bodies, but flight comfort plays a part as well.  A 15 hour flight to Hong Kong on an Air Canada or Continental craft with newer seats and more leg room is sometimes only minimally worse than the time I flew on an old Zoom Airlines (remember them?) plane for 7 hours to London; I remember zero leg room and chairs so 'retro' there were ashtrays built into the arm rests!...  Still, one shouldn't underestimate the discomforts 15 hours of being trapped on a small craft can bring, so it's important to do what you can to improve the situation.

Find Physical Comfort
It's true, unless you're in Business or First Class, this may well be a pipe dream.  I'm 5'7" with a bad knee and poor circulation, half my carry-on contents are an assortment of pills and accessories designed to alleviate pain and soreness.  I favour my inflatable neck pillow (depending on how much I inflate it, it provides a customizable amount of cushioning) or memory foam pillow for my lower back usually.  I'm also the sort who takes off my shoes on the plane (feet swelling in my shoes doesn't sound comfy to me) so I bring an extra pair of socks to keep my feet warm (slippers work too).  It's not all about slumping into your chair properly though, human beings need to move and stretch their muscles.  So after the food carts have gone by but before they dim the cabin lights, you might want to consider doing a little stretching in the aisles or pace back and forth for 5 mins.  The area outside of the washrooms are usually a little roomier, I like to get in my stretches there.

Maximize Sleep
With some physical comfort should come a bit of sleep.  On a long flight I figure if I can manage to sleep at least 5 or 6 hours of it away, that's already half the flight in the bag (let's face it, the bottom line is how to effectively kill all that time).  The cabin crew helps out by dimming lights between meals etc. but sometimes your body isn't quite functioning on their schedule, or even worse, the screaming child behind you isn't on the same schedule.  You can usually request blankets and really flat pillows from the cabin crew, in addition I keep an eye mask handy.  I fall asleep better to soft music so hello ipod!  If you sleep better in silence, bring earplugs.  Put it all together (minus any babies in the vicinity) and you should have enough sensory deprivation to get you to sleep.

Minimize Boredom
A person can only sleep for so long I guess, especially while crammed like a sardine into an airplane seat. The rest of the flight is spent puzzling over how to pass the time.  You'll hopefully have thought ahead and brought a book, laptop, Nintendo DS, journal, sudoku, crocheting, cat's cradle, whatever... The personal entertainment consoles on the newer planes aren't bad either, I've caught my share of good movies on those 4 inch screens (though I may be the only person crazy enough to watch a CGI epic like Thor for the first time on an airplane screen)

 When All Else Fails...Self-Medicate
Optimistic as I try to be that the above can get me through a long haul flight, I know better than to leave home without an arsenal of painkillers, muscle relaxants, and sleep-aids.  It's best to have the tried and true handy, but in a pinch anything will do so long as you use as directed.  I like Robax Platinum best, my back ceases to feel a thing for 4 hours, and something in those pills knocks me out every time.  I've also tried Advil Nighttime, which doesn't quite soothe the muscles as well but has a proper sleep-aid (make sure only to use when you're able to get a full night's sleep, I took it halfway through an 8 hour flight and the effects had not worn off yet by the time I landed).  If you're in favour of a natural remedy, melatonin works as well (I find I need 6-8mg for it to be effective and will need at least 6 hours of sleep).

There are people who are able to step off a long haul flight fresh and alert, strutting off to customs in a designer leather jacket and high heeled boots.  That's never going to be me, but I'll do what I can to look and act human.

More links to bolster your travel smarts...

Just because I'm stuck behind a desk until April doesn't mean I can't be a tourist...albeit a travel blog tourist...  I jest of course; there is much to be learned from fellow travel bloggers as you can see from my recent posts.  I'm happy to bring you another compilation of informative articles this week:

The Travel Belles' tagline is "The Travel Magazine for Women Who Know Getting Out of Town is a Beautiful Thing"  Quite right ladies!  However we all know the travel bug isn't exclusive to women, and so do they by providing a number of articles with universal appeal.  Some of these topics I have covered in my own blogs, but a second opinion is always valuable.  My favourites were: 

10 Things to Do Now to Prepare for International Travel
Under the "Become Familiar with, not fluent in the Language" section, I would add 'I don't know', 'I don't understand', 'toilet' and perhaps 'I'm lost' to the list of key phrases to know.  Having interacted with a number of ESL folk in my life, I can tell you that arming someone with simply yes and no as their only vocabulary can be a dangerous thing.  As for "Cut back on electronic gadgetry. Or at least get ready to charge it."... get a tablet.  Trust me on this one.

How to Pack Like a Travel Belle Pro
I haven't mastered the "discard half of each pile" step just yet, but I'm pretty confident my methods are also reasonably efficient.  They include a tip about buying travel size toiletries, suggesting that "If you run out of body lotion on your trip, buy the smallest bottle possible, refill yours and give the remains to somebody who will use it, like the woman who cleans your room."  Points for generosity and kindness, but if you want to be super thrifty, walk into the nearest department store cosmetics/beauty section and inquire for free samples.  This is an easy way to score quality products in travel-size portions.

Not going to lie, I found www.thetravelerszone.com to be so-so.  However there were a couple articles of note:

The Coolest Travel Essentials
This articles starts off with a cool solar powered backpack that I'd want to use at home and abroad!  The main problem with this article is that is provides no links to a site where we can actually purchase these items.  The first aid kit suggestion also seems a little comprehensive unless you're camping.  I may be frugal, but given my travel insurance coverage, I would go running to a doctor long before I have to bust out a roll of gauze!

Tips For Making That Long International Flight Travel Somewhat Bearable 
I know the pains for long international flights well!  I've been flying to Hong Kong since I was 15 MONTHS old and only in recent years have they gotten the flight times DOWN to 15 hours!  I actually have a number of suggestions not covered here, I do believe I've now found the topic of my next blog...stay tuned!

Other stumble-upons include some good specific tips from TravelingMom.com about What to Do When Your Flight is Delayed

And from Vagabonish:  The Culinary Essentials Every Budget Traveler Should Know
I'll be the first to admit I won't eat half the stuff listed in this article, but the ideas present here still make a great launching pad for coming up with your own cheap food alternatives.  Cooking/baking is one of my few UN-blogged about passions, to say I have a fixation with food is an understatement.  Ideas and thoughts I've gotten from this article will also be expanded on in a separate blog.

Travel Advice from Ninjas and Hackers

(the title is kind of deceptive...I know...)

I'm not really in the mood to give instructions or prattle on today, so I will simply point you towards two travel blog entries I read today that I found particularly informative.  I do not know either of the authors, I came across the sites in a google search.

The first is entitled: Buying Air Tickets – How to find the best flights and cheapest fares

The writer gives a clear, basic run-down of the differences between major and budget carriers, including the pros and cons of each.  Followed by some good general tips on how to obtain cheaper tickets.  I personally prefer Expedia.ca over Kayak for flight search engines.  The Skyscanner site he mentioned was good when I tested it with flights within Europe but didn't pull up anything insightful to get me across the Atlantic.  I know little about Round The World tickets but I'd be willing to investigate :)

The Ultimate Travel Hacking Guide's title made me chuckle (I'm easily amused), I collect aeroplan and air miles like everyone else, but I guess I don't have that kind of cash and flexibility to take weekend getaways to random places for the sole purpose of earning "double the miles". The tips for how to search around different sites and what to look for is pretty helpful if you're willing to put in the time and patience to find some savings.  As for the part about saving a few bucks from a favourable exchange rate, I haven't tested other currencies much, but CheapOair got me some small savings when I flew to San Francisco. The credit cards and mileage runs are not for me, but it is interesting to learn how to win one back from these credit giants and overpriced carriers.

Another handy little tool that I plan to start utilizing more is the Bing Travel price predictor for popular routes.  Search for your flight and in the results page you will see a "Price Predictor" with a suggestion to either buy now or wait, if you click on the link it'll give you a little more background info.  I wouldn't use Bing Travel for booking my flight per se, but sometimes it does make a difference knowing I can wait until the next paycheck to pay for my flight.  Some other sites are also beginning to develop price predictors as well, glad this is catching on.

Cross-border, it's not just for shopping...

Despite lofty plans to see the world, I've never focused my attention on much of the U.S., Caribbean, nor South America.  Therefore I've had little to say about travels going in that direction until some travel-related status updates/tweets last week sparked a conversation with a knowledgeable friend.

I'm struggling to find a cheap flight to Newark/New York City for Easter weekend and my friend Jos suggested I look for alternative flights out of Buffalo or Niagara Falls airport.  Though I have yet to take advantage, I have kept an eye out for flights from Buffalo for some previous travel.  I don't know enough to write about it, but I'm aware that contracts exist between certain countries which will make travel between them cheaper, and airport taxes and fees differ between airports/countries.  Therefore it is advantageous to look into flying out of the US sometimes, perhaps less so since 9/11 tightened security, but there are times when money is money.

From what I've learned clicking around on the net, Buffalo Airport offers a large number of domestic and international flights.  Most still require a stop in one of the major hubs (ie. New York, Newark, Chicago, Detroit) before actually crossing international lines, but for flights to the west coast, or if the US offers much more affordable travel to your destination, it's worth the drive across the border.  For those who don't drive, both Greyhound and Megabus have buses that will take you directly to Buffalo Airport in about three hours (hopefully there's adequate time in there for getting across the border, I've personally had some difficulties with Megabus.  Definitely allot extra time in there.)  Megabus has excellent pricing from Toronto to Buffalo Airport, I've found a number of $1 tickets.

Niagara Falls airport is much smaller and more akin to Toronto Island's Billy Bishop Airport.  While there are fewer flight options, it was also easier to isolate what they do offer -- and that's affordable travel down south, specifically Florida (where you can catch many connecting flights to the Caribbean, Central, and South America.  The airport is serviced by three airlines - Direct Air, Spirit Airlines, and Allegiant.  Their flight routes are as follows:

Direct Air:

Allegiant:

Spirit Airlines:

For non-drivers like myself, Jos has informed me Greyhound has a bus that goes to Niagara Airport. Sweet!

Have any of you flown out of Buffalo or Niagara?  I'd love to hear your experiences and thoughts about this route.  I've been told about flights from Buffalo to New York for under $100, hope one of those flight sales pop up soon!

Happy New Year! Happy New Travels!

Greetings to 2012!  I hope this year brings lots of exciting travels for everyone and adventure where ever you can find it.

I'm hoping for a number of trips this year to destinations new and old, as always please write to tell me about yours, then we will scope out deals together.  I'd shared with my facebook friends at the end of the year that it doesn't take a new calendar year to set new goals, make changes, find forgiveness, etc...but Jan 1st is as good a time as any.  That being said, whether you have travel plans outlined for this year or not, now might not be a bad time to start thinking about it.

The concept of saving money has always eluded me.  It took me years to get into the habit of rustling up the cash for tickets, hotels and spending prior to leaving on a trip rather than begging mom for her credit card and then being stuck paying her back for months on end after I got back.  The idea of putting money aside without a tangible goal aside from 'saving' never appealed to me, the world could end tomorrow and where would all those savings get me?  Better to enjoy it today in the form of a sushi lunch and some new movies.  This is one of reasons I like to look ahead and have travel destinations in mind, it gives me an idea of costs and how much to put aside.

Even with best intentions though, sometimes it's hard to come up with all the cash when you need it.  For example, if the plan is to travel in June with a price tag of $3000 and start saving now, that would mean finding $500/month (if you get paid bi-weekly or bi-monthly that's $250 per pay).  For me personally, $500 is tough, but not impossible.  However it's not as straightforward as putting away $250 every pay, because not every travel expense is evenly proportioned as such.  Usually there are benefits to buying your plane ticket 4-6 months in advance, but at this point you may not have that kind of cash ready.  By the time you do, ticket prices may have risen.  A great hotel deal might pop up in March, but you're not ready to book, and by the time you've saved up enough in May, the hotel might be sold out.  It's these little frustrations that will mess with your regimented savings plan every time.  Hopefully you're nothing like me, and have lots in the bank, and even more credit at your disposal.  Otherwise, it might not be a bad idea to start saving now, whether you've decided on your destination or not.

The methods and thought process of choosing a vaca spot are numerous, I won't even try to advise you on how to do that.  I'm the girl that's picked cities based on Cirque du Soleil's touring schedule and Andy Warhol exhibitions.  Once you do narrow it down though, the first thing to do is get an idea of how much it's going to cost you.  This is a list of things I try to find out before making my final decision:

• What are the different methods/flight routes to get there?  Which is the cheapest mode of transportation/route I'm willing to take?  How much will that cost me?
• What time(s) of year do I want to visit?  How does the price fluctuate if I go a few weeks earlier/later in the year?
• What types of accommodation can I safely stay at?  What is the price difference between them?
• How can I maximize this vacation and what will the additional costs be?  Are there any nearby cities I can visit on the same trip?  How do I get to the additional destinations/how much to stay there?
• Are there any costly events/shows I want to attend while I'm there? (This is to factor into the cost)

 At the end of this deliberation, you should not only wind up with your final decision, but also a bunch of numbers that you can now total to see the estimated cost of your trip (this is often the part where you get a little weak at the knees :P).  Don't forget to add in meal costs and general spending.  Though prices fluctuate wildly from country to country, for Europe/US I would suggest factoring in $40-$50 a day for meals ($10 breakfast, $15 lunch, $20 dinner... you will obviously be under or over for individual meals but I find it usually evens out as long as you don't dine in fine restaurants for every meal).  Under general spending would be public transit costs and admission fees into tourist attractions, museums etc.  If you're at at all-inclusive resort you obviously don't need to worry about this, with the number of galleries and museums I go to, I factor in $50/day (however I spend less than the average person on food so I cut back there).  It's up to you whether you want to include a shopping/bar budget now or later.  Take your total and round it up (it's always better to have a bit more than not enough), that's your savings goal.

Despite it's shortcomings, the equal portion per pay savings plan is still the easiest one to stick with and there's nothing wrong with doing it that way.  If you can manage though, get as much saved up early as possible, it'll make life easier on your credit card.

Dream big, plan ahead, and have fun!  Happy New Year everyone :)